Interesting Esoterica

The general counterfeit coin problem

Article by Lorenz Halbeisen and Norbert Hungerbühler
  • Published in 1995
  • Added on
In the collections
Given $c$ nickels among which there may be a counterfeit coin, which can only be told apart by its weight being different from the others, and moreover $b$ balances. What is the minimal number of weighings to decide whether there is a counterfeit nickel, if so which one it is and whether it is heavier or lighter than a genuine nickel. We give an answer to this question for sequential and nonsequential strategies and we will consider the problem of more than one counterfeit coin.

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Other information

key
TheGeneralCounterfeitCoinProblem
type
article
date_added
2016-08-24
date_published
1995-03-14

BibTeX entry

@article{TheGeneralCounterfeitCoinProblem,
	key = {TheGeneralCounterfeitCoinProblem},
	type = {article},
	title = {The general counterfeit coin problem},
	author = {Lorenz Halbeisen and Norbert Hungerb{\"{u}}hler},
	abstract = {Given {\$}c{\$} nickels among which there may be a counterfeit coin, which can only be told
apart by its weight being different from the others, and moreover {\$}b{\$} balances. What is the minimal number of weighings to decide whether there is a counterfeit nickel, if so which one it is and whether it is heavier or lighter than a genuine nickel. We give an answer to this question for sequential and nonsequential strategies and we will consider the problem of more than one counterfeit coin.},
	comment = {},
	date_added = {2016-08-24},
	date_published = {1995-03-14},
	urls = {http://user.math.uzh.ch/halbeisen/publications/pdf/coin.pdf},
	collections = {Puzzles,Easily explained},
	url = {http://user.math.uzh.ch/halbeisen/publications/pdf/coin.pdf},
	urldate = {2016-08-24},
	year = 1995
}